epidemic proportions

Strangled by trojans, each week I see systems brought to a standstill. Sometimes it’s a neighbor and sometimes it’s a friend, but the story is always the same. “A popup said I was infected so I tried to remeove it. Now I can’t download anything. The program said it would help, but it didn’t.” They look real, mimicking Microsoft or well known AntiVirus products. The names sound ligitimate, calling themselves AntiVirus 2009 and such.